Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a (+)-sense single-stranded RNA virus that is a major cause of non-A, non-B hepatitis worldwide. A large percentage of people infected with HCV develop chronic liver disease. This chronic hepatitis C infection, in turn, puts them at high risk for developing serious liver diseases such as liver cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma and terminal liver disease leading to death.
Compounds having an (S)—N-cyclopropyl-2-oxo-3-(amino)alkanamide group, for example an (S)—N-cyclopropyl-2-oxo-3-(amino)hexanamide group (or (S)-3-amino-N-cyclopropyl-2-oxohexanamide) have been shown to be useful for the treatment of hepatitis C and related disorders. See, for example, U.S. Patent Application 2007/0054864, the complete disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. Accordingly, it would be desirable to have a facile synthesis of common intermediates useful in the preparation of such compounds, particularly a synthesis suitable for large scale preparation of this and similar intermediates.